November has rolled around, so it’s officially that time of year: the holiday movie season. Both the L.A. Times and the New York Times have gotten deep into the action with great features in their movie sections which provide a heap of new photos from several highly anticipated movies. First up is a film we’ve already seen (read our NYFF review here), but one that’s highly anticipated by many of us who haven’t seen it nonetheless: Spike Jonze’s “Her” (December 18th, in limited release), which features the stellar cast of Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Adams, Scarlett Johansson, Rooney Mara, Olivia Wilde and Chris Pratt.

Some new photos and behind-the-scenes pictures were recently unveiled, but both outlets have some new pics as well. “When I was 20 years old, I had no plans to ever be a filmmaker,” director Spike Jonze told the New York Times. “Me and my friends had BMX magazines and skate magazines, and I was a photographer who made skate videos. There was just no way that would have ever even crossed my mind.” Jonze was constantly refining the movie, which meant following Scarlett Johansson—the voice actor in the movie—on to the set of “Captain America: The Winter Solider.” “We’d get her every waking moment off from that other movie, 10 or 12 hours a day,” Jonze told the L.A. Times. “Months would go by, we’d get her back because we’d rewrite a few lines, finessing it. It was such an exciting way to create characters. You didn’t have hair or make-up. It was all about what was being felt.” Here’s a new international trailer which is pretty similar to the original I think.

Next up, a new photo fromJason Reitman’s “Labor Day” (December 25th) starring Josh Brolin and Kate Winslet. The movie is said to be a big change for Reitman, the director of “Juno” and “Young Adult,” and two new trailers bear that sentiment out. “There isn’t an enormous amount of dialogue, and I found that fascinating,” Winslet told the NY Times. “So much of the story is told through the atmosphere of the piece — the tension and the joy and the growing connection between these two people.” Brolin had to change things up for the film too, ratcheting down his normal intensity and adopting a stillness he called, “really uncomfortable.”

“I had an older woman come up to me at a screening the other day and say, ‘Thank you for helping me restore my libido.’ I think that may have been a first,” he laughed.

On page two, new photos from “Anchorman 2,” “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire,” and “August: Osage County” starring Julia Roberts, Meryl Streep and Benedict Cumberbatch among many others.“Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues” has been a long time coming. The movie was almost a go in 2009, but Paramount told director/writer Adam McKay and Will Ferrell that they had to ruthlessly bring down their budget to almost an insulting level. “I told them the budget is $80 million,” McKay told the L.A. Times. “And they’re like, ‘We’re thinking $35 million.’ ‘We’re like, ‘You’re crazy.’ The first movie did great on cable and DVD, and that’s where it really took off — much like ‘Austin Powers.’ That’s where we stalled. Basically, it was over.”

Fortunately for them, one of Paramount’s in-development tentpoles fell through and when the creative team asked once again, this time Paramount was keen on the comedy in their now rather empty 2013 schedule (which has since filled up of course). This time the news team will face the challenges of 24-hour news, plus an increasingly changing world that includes their first encounters with gay men and African-American colleagues.

“You can’t go into it worrying about expectations,” McKay about trying to top the first film. “Because the whole spirit of ‘Anchorman’ is ‘Who gives a …?’ The way we did the first movie was by not obeying the rules. It’s like being in the Sex Pistols and wondering if you’re in tune.” The movie arrives in theaters December 20th. Below, more ‘Anchorman’ photos, plus new pics of “August: Osage County” (December 25th) and “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” (November 22nd).